6/18 Weekly Email
Hi all,
I’m getting this weekly email out early since tomorrow is a holiday for most employees.
Member Meeting: Our next member meeting will be June 26th, from 12PM-PM at the Tempe Historical Museum. RSVP here by Tuesday, June 24th, at 12PM.
Segal: UAEA is still working on addressing Segal study concerns. While we can continue to litigate member concerns with HR, I should mention that we will be unable to actually change anything between now and July 16th. HR is taking a month to update all the Personnel records with the new Segal information (pay range, new job titles, etc) and cannot make additional changes during this period. That said, we can still prepare and make the case that they should consider our changes after that date.
MOU Negotiations: I’ve mentioned several times that we have an open survey soliciting feedback from members about future MOU Negotiation topics. If there are specific things you would like us to negotiate in our Fall 2025/Spring 2026 negotiations, please fill it out. I have also added a new survey to gauge interest in participating on a MOU research and planning committee. We currently have dozens of possible negotiation topics collected - our chance of successfully getting them in our contract will only be enhanced if we have draft language ready to go, research showing the benefits to workplace morale/retention, and examples of other cities who currently offer that benefit. If this is something that interests you, please fill out the survey. This is an interest form, not an actual commitment - I’ll follow up in a few weeks with more information about what sorts of help we need.
TIPP Training: Tempe Community Council is offering Trauma Informed Primary Prevention (TIPP 2.0) Training and Certification next Friday, June 27th, between 11AM and 4PM. This training helps individuals respond appropriately and compassionately to people in their lives facing crises. They have limited seats so please check out the QR code on the attached link asap if you’d like to attend.
Bylaws Vote: Voting for our proposed bylaws changes will occur between Monday, June 23rd, and Thursday, June 24th at 9AM. I’ve attached the proposed language again - if you missed my last few emails about this topic, you can read them here (6/5 and 6/12). I will send out a link when voting opens and quickly tally results for my 6/26 email and (if the timing works) our 6/26 member’s meeting.
I’m not normally this direct so I want to be very clear - the UAEA board does not believe we’ll be able to continue to operate as an organization unless we can secure this donated leave model in our bylaws. Over the last 10 months we have looked at a variety of possible solutions to the problems created by the Arizona Supreme Court’s (link some emails) June 2024 decision - this donated leave model is the best answer we have come up with, and it is both consistent with other cities and legally secure against future challenges.
We have a current MOU that guarantees us additional rights beyond what is guaranteed in the Personnel Rules. This MOU expires in 2026 and if we’re not there to renew it, the City could get rid of it entirely. I don’t think that’s realistic, given our good relationship with the current management, but people who have been employees for a while are probably aware that Tempe leadership’s friendliness towards organized labor has varied considerably depending on who sits on City Council and who is the City Manager. I am not saying this to fear-monger: this is an unfortunately realistic worry. Many Arizona cities took advantage of the 2024 Supreme Court ruling to cripple their employee associations - the more rights we secure now, the better the chance we can weather any political or legal challenges that come at us in the next few years.
I joined this union because I believe organized labor is a path towards a better future. I think unions help ensure equal treatment in the workplace and fair wages, and love being part of a community that looks out for their peers. There are many forces that don’t want unions to succeed for exactly those reasons - disorganized workers who have to fend for themselves will never be able to achieve the same ends as a unified front of people bargaining in tandem. Please help our board pass these bylaw revisions so we can continue fighting for that better future.
All best,